JCPenney's brand is in grave danger under the stewardship of CEO Ron Johnson. It's not likely to literally go extinct this year — which is why we have it at No. 10 in our ranking. But the company is running out of cash (it burned through $54 million last year and has only $121 million left) as it changes its focus from discounts to a format involving name-brand shops within the store itself. The JCPenney will never be the same again.

Hostess, which sells Twinkies, Ho Hos and Drake's cakes, famously went bankrupt in 2012 and its assets have recently been bought by Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Company; Drakes was acquired by McKee. The Hostess company now exists in name only. Photo illustration by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Microsoft is killing off the Hotmail brand in favor of Outlook for web email. The brand went off the boil long ago, but its user base was so massive that Gmail only surpassed it in users in November 2012. Photo: Ern, Flickr

The sports car maker had to quash a rumor it was going bankrupt earlier this year after a filing emerged for procedural reasons in a U.K. court. However, the company has been dogged for months by rumors that it may not be viable. It sells only 35 cars per quarter.

The sports car maker had to quash a rumor it was going bankrupt earlier this year after a filing emerged for procedural reasons in a U.K. court. However, the company has been dogged for months by rumors

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The sports car maker had to quash a rumor it was going... Photo-4374634.59037 - Houston Chronicle

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Resarch In Motion

The maker of Blackberry, fighting for survival in a mobile phone market dominated by iPhone and Android, axed its "RIM" moniker in favor of the Blackberry brand earlier this year. It's not clear that the move will be enough to save the company from extinction.

Activist investor Bill Ackman has shorted 20 million shares of Herbalife on the bet that it's actually a pyramid scheme, not a real company. The firm thinks he's wrong, of course, but this is an existential struggle for Herbalife.

The company refinanced itself this year after this long list of troubles, as described by Bloomberg: "Avon has embarked on a turnaround plan after suffering through declining sales, a bribery investigation and other problems.

It hired new CEO Sheri McCoy last April and has begun to slash costs, hoping to save $400 million in three years, cut its dividend, laid off workers and exited some less profitable markets like Vietnam and South Korea." It's not out of the woods yet. Photo: Alsis, Flickr